(c. 1534-1619 AD), A Muslim-born, ecstatic Krishna follower, offers in verse a glimpse into
God’s Playground, inspiring us to find our own path to that divine realm. The entrancing
rhyme and alliteration of his village vernacular of Vrajabhasha-witty, elegant, and
delightful just to hear, take us in just four lines to total grace-filled liberation! His
poems are a testament to a love and a Beloved that know no limits. Rasakhan sees Krishna
during the day, playing the flute and herding cows through the forest. At night, he
envisions Him as the Gopis’ lover in the leafy bowers of Vrindavan. He leads us from Child
Krishna’s adorable antics to Krishna’s ultimate union with the beautiful Radha. Join this
poet-bhakta on a pilgrimage to the Treasure House of Love Shyamdas and Dr. David Haberman,
above, enjoy a moment at Apsara Kund by the Govardhan Hill. Krishna Kinkari (shown below at
Mansarovar, near Vrindavan) lives in London, from where she yearns for the sacred land of
Vraja depicted in the poetry of Rasakhan.

Introduction

It is said that in the state of spiritual love, one can remain without the Beloved for up to
one day, but when that love rises to the level of attachment, the lover can remain apart
from the Beloved for only a few hours. When attachment matures into divine addiction, that
blessed lover cannot be separated from the Beloved for even a moment.

These sublime states of being define the course of blessed devotion and the
poet-saint Rasakhan’s personal path. Devotion, or more specifically, bhakti, is nourished by
renunciation of what is unrelated, by listening to devotional subjects, and by singing your
heart out to God with unconditional devotion. These are the foundational principles of
Shrimad Vallabhacharya’s (1979-1531 A. D.) Path of Grace, the Pushti Marga.

Shri Gusainji (Shri Vitthalnathji), the son of Shri Vallabhacharya and guru of
Rasakhan, continued his father’s teachings and also brought forth new elements in the
elaborate mode of divine service to Shri Krishna, called seva. This form of seva is
dedicated solely to Shri Krishna’s pleasure. It was being practiced in Shri Nathji’s temple
on the Govardhan Hill when Rasakhan arrived there around 1561 A.D. Rasakhan (c. 1534-1619
A.D.) was among the exalted group of Shri Gusainji’s 252 main disciples, the grace-filled
souls who were the principle recipients of the Bhakti master’s devotional vision.

The seva revealed by Shri Gusainji is comprised of three essential elements: raga
(music), bhog (food offerings), and shringar (ornamentation). Shri Gusainji ensured that
Shri Nathji daily enjoyed music, divine food offerings, and elaborate ornamentation. He
brought in poets, singers, pundits, artists, tailors, as well as cooks and temple
attendants. They all offered their highest talents to God, using only the finest materials
for their dedicated offerings. In this way, Shri Gusainji was able to manifest the various
devotional arts to the world.

Following the lineage of pure non-dualism (shuddhadvaita) taught to him by his
father, Shri Gusainji viewed the world as an extension of Shri Krishna’s divine realm. He
created in this world a devotional stage on which to adorn and please his beloved Lord.

Shri Nathji’s temple was the only public temple in which Shri Gusainji himself
carried out this divine worship, for the emphasis in the Path of Grace is on the personal
worship of one’s own form of Krishna, within one’s own home. According to the Path of Grace,
Shri Krishna adapts to the nature of His devotees, for it is too difficult to achieve
perfection through one’s own narrow means. This truth comes as a relief for the spiritual
practitioner, or bhakta.

Shri Krishna plays with His own souls in a personal way, so that each is able to
clearly recognize Divinity. The life story of Rasakhan, found in this text, provides a
convincing example of that profound process. The divine exchange also allows the
practitioner to truly take refuge. Then, an array of religious experiences arises. It is not
a question of skillful means, but rather, intense yearning, which brings the Supreme into
the practitioner’s world. This formula allows true character to develop, often in unusual
ways, as witnessed in the life of Rasakhan.

The foundations of both lawful and grace-filled devotion (Maryada and Pushti Bhakti)
are found within the Sanskrit teachings of the Bhagavat Gita. These teachings were then more
fully revealed in the Shrimad Bhagavatam. Rasakhan, a Muslim-born, ecstatic Krishna
follower, was able to uniquely express through his poetry the sublime devotional views found
in those texts.

Rasakhan’s lyrical expressions grant us access to his ecstatic realm: Shri Krishna’s
playground-the sacred lands of Vraja. His instructional poems teach us to prioritize our
values, making them devotional and focused on divinity. Then, there can be transformation
and vision.

In Rasakhan’s world, the Gopis are the gurus. They have demonstrated how to leave
everything unnecessary and move directly towards the Beloved. The Gopis provide the best
examples of devotion, because above all else, they desired the Lord of Sweetness. They
simply forgot all other illusions and became solely attached to God. They became recipients
of nirodha, the blessed state of continual God-awareness. Their every motion and emotion was
perfectly fixated on Shri Krishna.

In Rasakhan’s world, the Gopis are gurus. They have demonstrated how to leave
everything unnecessary and move directly towards the Beloved. The Gopis provide the best
examples of devotion, because above all else, they desired the Lord of Sweetness. They
simply forgot all other illusions and became solely attached to God. They became recipients
of nirodha, the blessed state of continual God-awareness. Their every motion and emotion was
perfectly fixated on Shri Krishna.

Rasakhan entered deeply into the Gopis’ realizations and sometimes even described
his experiences from their vantage point. His poems are filled with astounding sounds,
meanings, and unexpected conclusions, all of which propel the reader into a “Krishna
awakening.”

Throughout Rasakhan’s work, the diversity of his beloved Krishna’s loving plays and
sublime character unfold. He leads us from Child Krishna’s adorable antics to Shri Krishna’s
ultimate union with the beautiful Radha. He employs emotions that are common in the world,
but finds in them their eternal, divine counterparts.

Rasakhan is not interested in enlightenment, a path which he considers selfish.
Instead, he urges us to find our true essence as eternal parts o the Infinite and to become
followers of the Lord, lovers of the Beloved. In his inimitable style, Rasakhan uses Shri
Krishna’s own tongue of Vraja Bhasha to express the Blessed Path as well as its divine goal.
He shows us that whenever there is pure love, the means becomes the reward. As Rasakhan
explains, once you are in God’s orbit, you cannot forget Him, even if you try.

Rasakhan’s rhyme and alliteration make his poems delightful just to hear. His
language, although set in a village vernacular, is elegant and witty. He is famous for
concluding his poems with an unexpected revelation. His writings are precious, as they are
infused with insights that inspire us to join him on a love pilgrimage to a domain beyond
even liberation. The astonishing is found in the ordinary as Rasakhan celebrates the joys of
Shri Krishna’s loving worship.

Rasakhan’s remarkable poems have always been an inspiration to me. I live for some
months every year in the town of Gokul, where Rasakhan lived, as well as in Jatipura, where
Shri Nathji’s temple stands on top of the sacred Govardhan Hill. It was here in Jatipura
that Rasakhan first behold his beloved Krishna and his guru, Shri Gusainji.

This text was completed with the help of Dr. David Haberman and Krishna Kinkari,
both lovers of Rasakhan’s revelations and the sacred lands of Vraja. I have had the pleasure
of wandering Vraja with both of them. Our respect and love for
Rasakhan’s poetry brought us together, and several years later, we are finally ready to
present our joint translations in this book.

One of my favourite sites in Vraja is Rasakhan’s Samadhi, the site of his tomb, near
Raman Reti. Dr. Haberman and I often wander there in the afternoon from Gokul to simply
enjoy the mood of the place. Dr. Haberman writes of his first contact with Rasakhan at his
Samadhi, Samadhi of Rasakhan, a usual stop on this pilgrimage. Rasakhan’s memorial tomb, or
Samadhi, as it is called locally, stands just outside the town of Gokul.

“Architecturally, Rasakhan’s Samadhi reveals a great deal about a figure whose life
and thought are wonderfully transgressive. It is constructed out of red sandstone, a
material characteristically used only with the permission of the Mughal court in Delhi. It
consists of an eight-sided open pavilion supported by ornately carved pillars. This is a
standard design for much of the Hindu architecture of the region; enclosures for sacred
ponds and the rasamandala performance pavilions, erected as meeting places for the divine
couple Radha and Krishna, are typically eight-sided.

“At the center of the floor of the pavilion that makes up Rasakhan’s Samadhi,
however, stands a maqbara, a raised gravestone with a qalamdan pen box, typically used to
indicate that a great male Muslim personage is buried there. Although the structure is
primarily Hindu, and although people of the Vraj region refer to the structure as a
‘samadhi’, a Hindu term for the entombment of a saint, I have visited the site and have on
occasion observed a green cloth draped over the maqbara, in the traditional fashion of
honoring a Muslim saint.”

(c. 1534-1619 AD), A Muslim-born, ecstatic Krishna follower, offers in verse a glimpse into
God’s Playground, inspiring us to find our own path to that divine realm. The entrancing
rhyme and alliteration of his village vernacular of Vrajabhasha-witty, elegant, and
delightful just to hear, take us in just four lines to total grace-filled liberation! His
poems are a testament to a love and a Beloved that know no limits. Rasakhan sees Krishna
during the day, playing the flute and herding cows through the forest. At night, he
envisions Him as the Gopis’ lover in the leafy bowers of Vrindavan. He leads us from Child
Krishna’s adorable antics to Krishna’s ultimate union with the beautiful Radha. Join this
poet-bhakta on a pilgrimage to the Treasure House of Love Shyamdas and Dr. David Haberman,
above, enjoy a moment at Apsara Kund by the Govardhan Hill. Krishna Kinkari (shown below at
Mansarovar, near Vrindavan) lives in London, from where she yearns for the sacred land of
Vraja depicted in the poetry of Rasakhan.

Introduction

It is said that in the state of spiritual love, one can remain without the Beloved for up to
one day, but when that love rises to the level of attachment, the lover can remain apart
from the Beloved for only a few hours. When attachment matures into divine addiction, that
blessed lover cannot be separated from the Beloved for even a moment.

These sublime states of being define the course of blessed devotion and the
poet-saint Rasakhan’s personal path. Devotion, or more specifically, bhakti, is nourished by
renunciation of what is unrelated, by listening to devotional subjects, and by singing your
heart out to God with unconditional devotion. These are the foundational principles of
Shrimad Vallabhacharya’s (1979-1531 A. D.) Path of Grace, the Pushti Marga.

Shri Gusainji (Shri Vitthalnathji), the son of Shri Vallabhacharya and guru of
Rasakhan, continued his father’s teachings and also brought forth new elements in the
elaborate mode of divine service to Shri Krishna, called seva. This form of seva is
dedicated solely to Shri Krishna’s pleasure. It was being practiced in Shri Nathji’s temple
on the Govardhan Hill when Rasakhan arrived there around 1561 A.D. Rasakhan (c. 1534-1619
A.D.) was among the exalted group of Shri Gusainji’s 252 main disciples, the grace-filled
souls who were the principle recipients of the Bhakti master’s devotional vision.

The seva revealed by Shri Gusainji is comprised of three essential elements: raga
(music), bhog (food offerings), and shringar (ornamentation). Shri Gusainji ensured that
Shri Nathji daily enjoyed music, divine food offerings, and elaborate ornamentation. He
brought in poets, singers, pundits, artists, tailors, as well as cooks and temple
attendants. They all offered their highest talents to God, using only the finest materials
for their dedicated offerings. In this way, Shri Gusainji was able to manifest the various
devotional arts to the world.

Following the lineage of pure non-dualism (shuddhadvaita) taught to him by his
father, Shri Gusainji viewed the world as an extension of Shri Krishna’s divine realm. He
created in this world a devotional stage on which to adorn and please his beloved Lord.

Shri Nathji’s temple was the only public temple in which Shri Gusainji himself
carried out this divine worship, for the emphasis in the Path of Grace is on the personal
worship of one’s own form of Krishna, within one’s own home. According to the Path of Grace,
Shri Krishna adapts to the nature of His devotees, for it is too difficult to achieve
perfection through one’s own narrow means. This truth comes as a relief for the spiritual
practitioner, or bhakta.

Shri Krishna plays with His own souls in a personal way, so that each is able to
clearly recognize Divinity. The life story of Rasakhan, found in this text, provides a
convincing example of that profound process. The divine exchange also allows the
practitioner to truly take refuge. Then, an array of religious experiences arises. It is not
a question of skillful means, but rather, intense yearning, which brings the Supreme into
the practitioner’s world. This formula allows true character to develop, often in unusual
ways, as witnessed in the life of Rasakhan.

The foundations of both lawful and grace-filled devotion (Maryada and Pushti Bhakti)
are found within the Sanskrit teachings of the Bhagavat Gita. These teachings were then more
fully revealed in the Shrimad Bhagavatam. Rasakhan, a Muslim-born, ecstatic Krishna
follower, was able to uniquely express through his poetry the sublime devotional views found
in those texts.

Rasakhan’s lyrical expressions grant us access to his ecstatic realm: Shri Krishna’s
playground-the sacred lands of Vraja. His instructional poems teach us to prioritize our
values, making them devotional and focused on divinity. Then, there can be transformation
and vision.

In Rasakhan’s world, the Gopis are the gurus. They have demonstrated how to leave
everything unnecessary and move directly towards the Beloved. The Gopis provide the best
examples of devotion, because above all else, they desired the Lord of Sweetness. They
simply forgot all other illusions and became solely attached to God. They became recipients
of nirodha, the blessed state of continual God-awareness. Their every motion and emotion was
perfectly fixated on Shri Krishna.

In Rasakhan’s world, the Gopis are gurus. They have demonstrated how to leave
everything unnecessary and move directly towards the Beloved. The Gopis provide the best
examples of devotion, because above all else, they desired the Lord of Sweetness. They
simply forgot all other illusions and became solely attached to God. They became recipients
of nirodha, the blessed state of continual God-awareness. Their every motion and emotion was
perfectly fixated on Shri Krishna.

Rasakhan entered deeply into the Gopis’ realizations and sometimes even described
his experiences from their vantage point. His poems are filled with astounding sounds,
meanings, and unexpected conclusions, all of which propel the reader into a “Krishna
awakening.”

Throughout Rasakhan’s work, the diversity of his beloved Krishna’s loving plays and
sublime character unfold. He leads us from Child Krishna’s adorable antics to Shri Krishna’s
ultimate union with the beautiful Radha. He employs emotions that are common in the world,
but finds in them their eternal, divine counterparts.

Rasakhan is not interested in enlightenment, a path which he considers selfish.
Instead, he urges us to find our true essence as eternal parts o the Infinite and to become
followers of the Lord, lovers of the Beloved. In his inimitable style, Rasakhan uses Shri
Krishna’s own tongue of Vraja Bhasha to express the Blessed Path as well as its divine goal.
He shows us that whenever there is pure love, the means becomes the reward. As Rasakhan
explains, once you are in God’s orbit, you cannot forget Him, even if you try.

Rasakhan’s rhyme and alliteration make his poems delightful just to hear. His
language, although set in a village vernacular, is elegant and witty. He is famous for
concluding his poems with an unexpected revelation. His writings are precious, as they are
infused with insights that inspire us to join him on a love pilgrimage to a domain beyond
even liberation. The astonishing is found in the ordinary as Rasakhan celebrates the joys of
Shri Krishna’s loving worship.

Rasakhan’s remarkable poems have always been an inspiration to me. I live for some
months every year in the town of Gokul, where Rasakhan lived, as well as in Jatipura, where
Shri Nathji’s temple stands on top of the sacred Govardhan Hill. It was here in Jatipura
that Rasakhan first behold his beloved Krishna and his guru, Shri Gusainji.

This text was completed with the help of Dr. David Haberman and Krishna Kinkari,
both lovers of Rasakhan’s revelations and the sacred lands of Vraja. I have had the pleasure
of wandering Vraja with both of them. Our respect and love for
Rasakhan’s poetry brought us together, and several years later, we are finally ready to
present our joint translations in this book.

One of my favourite sites in Vraja is Rasakhan’s Samadhi, the site of his tomb, near
Raman Reti. Dr. Haberman and I often wander there in the afternoon from Gokul to simply
enjoy the mood of the place. Dr. Haberman writes of his first contact with Rasakhan at his
Samadhi, Samadhi of Rasakhan, a usual stop on this pilgrimage. Rasakhan’s memorial tomb, or
Samadhi, as it is called locally, stands just outside the town of Gokul.

“Architecturally, Rasakhan’s Samadhi reveals a great deal about a figure whose life
and thought are wonderfully transgressive. It is constructed out of red sandstone, a
material characteristically used only with the permission of the Mughal court in Delhi. It
consists of an eight-sided open pavilion supported by ornately carved pillars. This is a
standard design for much of the Hindu architecture of the region; enclosures for sacred
ponds and the rasamandala performance pavilions, erected as meeting places for the divine
couple Radha and Krishna, are typically eight-sided.

“At the center of the floor of the pavilion that makes up Rasakhan’s Samadhi,
however, stands a maqbara, a raised gravestone with a qalamdan pen box, typically used to
indicate that a great male Muslim personage is buried there. Although the structure is
primarily Hindu, and although people of the Vraj region refer to the structure as a
‘samadhi’, a Hindu term for the entombment of a saint, I have visited the site and have on
occasion observed a green cloth draped over the maqbara, in the traditional fashion of
honoring a Muslim saint.”

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